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Hi. I'm State Representative Terry Brown. Welcome to my weekly update, "Talking With Terry."

As a longtime educator, I know how important it is to make sure that every child receives the best schooling possible. It's also essential for our young people to continue their education beyond high school so they can make a good living and so that Michigan can create the talented workforce we need to attract top-notch employers.

Unfortunately, rising tuition costs and this tough economy are putting college out of reach for too many of our working families. To help send more kids to college, I voted this week for a plan to make it easier for local individuals, groups and agencies to donate college tuition or scholarships.

The plan provides tax breaks for people who buy pre-paid tuition through the Michigan Education Trust (known as MET) as donations. The plan also enables agencies or charities to set up scholarships through the Michigan Education Savings Program, or M-E-S-P. 

MET allows anyone to pre-purchase undergraduate tuition for a child living in Michigan for any Michigan public university or community college. And M-E-S-P is a tax-deferred college savings program. Groups and municipalities have expressed a desire to buy multiple MET contracts or set up blocs of M-E-S-P contracts – for example, for children from a particular school or town.

The plan passed by the House makes it easier for them to do that by allowing people who buy a MET contract as a donation, rather than for a specific child, to receive a tax deduction and it allows anyone to set up an M-E-S-P account without having to name the beneficiary ahead of time.

It's important to work together to keep college within reach for any Michigan resident who wants to make that dream a reality.  In the meantime, I strongly encourage folks to start a MET or M-E-S-P account for a child in your life.

As the father of a daughter in college and two sons on the way soon, I know how hard it is to find money in the household budget for college tuition. With these programs, it doesn't take much money to start an account, and you can put away small amounts at a time. Perhaps you could consider starting an account as a Christmas gift this year. After all, helping a child attend college is a powerful gift that will last longer than anything you can put under the tree.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.You can call me, toll-free, at (888) 254-5284. Or, you can e-mail me at terrybrown@house.mi.gov. I am here to serve you and your family.

Thank you for listening to "Talking with Terry." Make it a great day!